Tonight in all that and still more

Ms. Guergis seems interested in being the Conservative candidate for Simcoe-Grey whenever the next election occurs. The director of a solar power company, and a former Liberal MP, says he was “shocked” to learn his company was the subject of a proposal submitted to the government by Mr. Jaffer’s company. The private investigator tells the Canadian Press that the RCMP told him that it has commenced an investigation. The RCMP won’t say if it has actually done so. An observer wonders if there might be some holes in the Lobbying Act that need tending to. The ethics commissioner says she can’t investigate unless she has “some information that goes to whatever the hell the problem was.” And Mr. Jaffer’s business partner produces the documentation that was requested and, in the process, suggests that perhaps racism had something to do with the reception he and Mr. Jaffer received at the government operations committee the other day. Or at least that some people who watched the committee proceedings told him that perhaps racism had something to do with it.

Tonight in all that and still more

Whaaat? Duff Conacher the lobbyist is complaining about lobbyists yet again? He should just shut up. The Lobbyist Act already hampers legitimate lobbying unduly. The problem is not lobbying, it is people with backgrounds in all parties who abuse the system. This has nothing to do with "loopholes" in the Lobbyist Act.

The Lobbying Act (not the Lobbyist Act) does not hamper legitimate lobbying at all — all you have to do is register (which takes about 10 minutes online, and is free), and you only have to register if you are paid to lobby. You also don't have to register if you are lobbying about the enforcement of a law or regulation, or if you are lobbying less than 20 percent of your work time as an employee of a business.

The loopholes that allow unpaid, part-time corporate lobbying in secret, and lobbying about law enforcement in secret, allow for anyone who wants to lobby in secret to do so (they just have to arrange to be paid for something other than the lobbying they are doing for anyone).

Secret lobbying allows for politicians and government officials to make deals behind closed doors with lobbyists — not sure why you think that is not a problem?

Secret lobbying is already illegal.If someone makes an arrangement to get paid for something, no matter how the arrangement is structured, then that person comes under the existing rules. There is no need to add additional rules.

Sorry, but you are completely incorrect — if someone arranges to be paid to give strategic or another type of advice to someone else or an organization of any kind, and volunteers to lobby for them, they are not required to register. You are only required to register if you are paid to lobby.

And you are also not required to register if you are lobbying about the enforcement, interpretation or application of a law (which is a huge loophole as many organizations and individuals lobby in this area), nor if you are an employee of a business and lobby less than 20 percent of your work time every 6 months (which allows you to lobby for up to 35 days every 6 months in secret).

Unregistered lobbyists do not have to comply with the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct and, therefore, they are allowed to do favours for the politicians and government officials they are lobbying (yes, it is illegal for politicians and officials to accept those favours (although there are also loopholes in those prohibitions), but it should also be illegal for all lobbyists to give the favours.

If the Conservatives had kept the spirit of their 2006 election promise to "Require Cabinet ministers and senior government officials to disclose their contacts with lobbyists" then secret lobbying of these politicians and officials would effectively be illegal. But because of the above loopholes, secret lobbying is legal.

I've been wondering whether the reason that Guergis was tossed was simply because she was embarrassing the Conservatives too much. The Harper government is obsessed with image, and Guergis was adversely affecting the Conservative brand.

I disagree with TwoYen at least as much as you do, but this "adults talking" thing I see every now and then really bothers me. TwoYen has an opinion. It is wrong-headed, sure, but he is entitled as an adult human being to hold it. It is our job as those who disagree with him to point out why the opinion is wrong–not to disrespect the holder of it. Duff Conacher has already done a fabulous job with actual facts on why the opinion is wrong (not to mention the truth in front of us that Jaffer lobbied without registering as a lobbyist and isn't in trouble for that) so I'm not sure what else we can say to TwoYen. Some people (eg, Wilson, who will defend Guergis and Jaffer just because they USED to be Conservatives) will hold a wrong-headed opinion no matter how many facts you shove beneath their eyes.

So can anybody tell me why the RCMP won't confirm an investigation that may (or may not) involve MP Guergis, but were only too happy to confirm an investigation into Minister Goodale during an election?

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